Four Factors Influencing the Future of Office Design

If you’re thinking about getting an office fit out done sometime soon, you’ll probably want to know how to futureproof it. This is important in order to ensure your new office workspace serves you for as long as possible – after all, you don’t want to build the perfect office for your team only to have some unforeseen factor make it obsolete after a few years.

To avoid this, DB Interiors constantly follows trends and cutting-edge research in the interior design world. This keeps us on top of major technological changes and advancements, ensuring we understand how the office space design world is evolving and how to always stay a step ahead.

That’s why we’re looking at the future of office design today; you don’t need to do the research. Instead, take a look at our top four things to keep in mind when implementing your next office fit out or relocation.

1. Top Talent is Changing

Many major countries on the international stage, such as the US, Japan, Germany, and China – are looking down the barrel of widespread generational changes. As their older generations retire, and age out of the workforce, available skill-sets and experience will change rapidly, and many skills will be in demand.

The challenge that this posits to business owners lies in retaining their staff. Engaging with employees through workplace design is projected to be a way for companies to both recruit and retain skilled workers.

Stimulating office spaces will therefore continue to grow in importance and being able to offer flexibility to staff is part of this. When staff have the freedom to choose where and who they work within an office, they are more likely to find strategies and methods that work for them, and are therefore more likely to engage with the office positively.

2. Engagement really matters

Employees that are engaging with an office positively are an enormous benefit for a business. Not only do engaged employees boost bottom lines, but many studies have also shown that workers who are invested in their work do a better job. That said, employees who are not engaged are far more common; the ratio is thought to be almost 2:1. This means most of the high staff turnover rates experienced by many businesses can be attributed partially to low engagement.

An office workspace renovation or fit out is a perfect opportunity for fostering engagement. Creating a space that directly serves the needs of staff will reinforce their sense of value within the company. It could also be worth involving employees in the fit-out process. When staff are given the chance to contribute ideas to the underlying framework of their workspace, they are much more likely to stay engaged with it.

3. Traditional desks no longer make sense to many workers

These days, working remotely is more common than ever. The modern workforce highly values this kind of flexibility, and it’s important to include this value in your office workspace’s design philosophy.

This means allowing for flexibility within the office itself, not just offering solutions for those who need to work on the go, from home, or in transit. Both technology and architecture contribute to the workflow of your office, and keeping this in mind when implementing a new fit out design is vital to futureproofing your workspace.

Unassigned or touchdown spaces are a great way to optimise your office for this, along with varying options for location – having more casual work rooms that provide a change of scenery will keep your office attractive for the long haul.

4. Activity-based workspaces continue to gain popularity

This is a trend we’ve been following for some time. It’s been on the rise for a while, but shows no signs of slowing down. Essentially, modern work is much more complicated and unpredictable than in the past. This means a single workstation per employee isn’t necessarily enough.

DB Interiors can turn this into an advantage by designing a workspace with different stations that are based on activity. This might involve structuring spaces around impromptu meetings, individual booths for sustained focus, or breakout areas for relaxing between tasks. All of these concepts can help negate the disadvantages of traditional offices, and help drive engagement for newer generations entering the workforce.